Viviane Sassen

Umbra

Viviane Sassen's latest book is her second to focus on the Umbra series and its exploration of the multifarious roles of the shadow in her work. The first, published in 2014 by oodee, foregrounded her ongoing collaboration with poet Maria Barnas, with a booklet of Barnas' poems accompanied by a folder of 11 prints. Here the full series - all the images included in Sassen's award-winning exhibition at the Nederlands Fotomuseum, and more - is shown to exquisite effect by designer Irma Boom. Glossy paper is combined with a thin uncoated stock of folded sheets in which images and poems are alternately hidden and revealed in response to the characteristic play of light, shadow and colour in Sassen's work. Sassen has been awarded the 2016 German Photo Book prize (gold prize) for this publication.